ENERGY

Shell-Mobil Group to Explore Huge Gas Field in Peru: Peru and a consortium of Royal Dutch-Shell and Mobil Corp. signed a 40-year contract to explore and develop one of the world’s largest natural gas fields. The $2.7-billion project to develop the Camisea gas field in Cusco, 350 miles southeast of Lima, is the largest foreign initiative in Peru’s history. The contract is expected to generate between $5 billion and $6 billion in royalties for the government over the next 25 years. The contract calls for the Shell-Mobil consortium to construct a gas-powered thermoelectric plant and two pipelines to bring the natural gas to Lima. Shell said production of gas to supply electrical energy for Peru could begin before the end of 1999.